New Delhi: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
on Sunday reportedly promised "some good news" on Telangana and
asked his party ministers from that region in Andhra Pradesh
to withdraw their resignations, but they were not in an
immediate mood to relent.
State Information and Tourism Minister Geeta Reddy, who
led a delegation of 13 ministers who have quit in protest
against Centre putting the Telangana on the backburner, told
reporters after a meeting with Mukherjee that they would
discuss his request among themselves first before taking a
decision on their resignations.
"Pranab Mukherjee asked us to withdraw our resignations
and assured us that there will be good news on Telangana issue
in the near future. We are also waiting for some special news
on the issue," Reddy said.
"We will discuss it (request to withdraw resignations)
among ourselves. Our aim is not being in posts or power, but
meeting the expectations of the people of Telangana. Their
aspirations is to have a separate state and they are longing
for it. This is the right time to have Telangana," she added.
Her cabinet colleague and Water Resources Minister
Ponnala Lakshmaiah said the Ministers conveyed the ground
situation in Telangana, especially Hyderabad.
"We impressed upon Mukherjee to take steps to clear the
doubts of separate statehood created by Home Minister P
Chidambaram's statement on December 23, which gave an
impression that Telangana was taking a backseat," he said.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, December 27, 2009, 22:29